I love Christmas time

I usually either stress-out during the holidays, or sit back and enjoy... So far I have done both. I am the activities chairperson in our ward, and we just had two big activities that I was in charge of. We had a Christmas breakfast (which I highly recommend instead of a dinner), and neighborhood Nativity. Both turned out really well, but that was the stressful part. Now that they are over, I get to really get into Christmas. All of the shopping is done, and presents are wrapped (almost). So I am really looking forward to the rest of the holiday season.

Riley and Abby made these cute mini gingerbread houses w/ my mom on Thanksgiving, and have been displaying them on the kitchen counter ever since.

My sis-in-law is a great photographer, and wanted to take some pictures of the kids at Gardner Village on Friday. Can I say "COLD"!!! The kids were freezing, but still had fun. Of course Jacob wouldn't cooperate and be in any of the pictures. Maybe next time... (These pics are from my camera- not Nicole's good one)

My neighbors Tyler and Marie were Mary and Joseph for our Nativity last night. All the kids got to come up and be part of the Nativity as well. It was a great night!

Cute Kids

I came into my bedroom to find Abby & Jake snuggling together as they watched a Christmas movie on my bed. They are too cute!

Have you ever tried a 3-tiered pyramid on top of an unstable ottoman?

Um... it doesn't always work...

and always seems to end up in disaster!

Random pics

Does anyone else feel like the days, or even weeks go by without blogging? I have the best of intentions, but the day seems to fly by, and by 11:00 at night, I just simply don't have the energy to post all of our fun adventures. I am making a goal for the new year to be better at this. So, to feel like I am doing at least something, here are a few random pics in the last couple of weeks...

Jake was so excited to finally put his shovel to good use a week or two ago. Now, he will have PLENTY of snow to shovel for me!

Jacob always makes us laugh! He loves wearing Tyler's hats, and thinking he is a big kid!

Jacob playing "pilot" in the "copter" at Discovery Gateway.

Oh ya... This is the best Turkey Bowl attire ever!

I don't know who Riley is pretending to be with his big bum and belly... maybe me?

Ok. So for some reason, whenever I ask Riley to strike a pose, this is what I end up with. It is so him!

At least Abby had fun eating her peas.

Draper/Sandy Junior Miss

We had our Jr. Miss program on Oct. 29, and it was so much fun! We had 11 girls, and they were all amazing! Talk about talented, bright young women! I had a great experience directing a whole program, which I am not used to. I do the Production for Utah's Jr. Miss, which is always in March, so this was a new undertaking. The girls made it worth it! We are taking 4 girls to the state program. The winners are: Shelby Erasmus, Lauren Dixon, Shelby Dixon, and Lexi Childs. I just found out that Shelby Dixon (#5) won't be able to go to state, so Megan Abrahamson, who is the next runner-up is going to take her place.

Me w/ the girls

Awwww, my kids were so good during the program. I always look forward to their hugs when it is over!

Happy Halloween!!

I loved having Halloween on a Saturday!! I feel like we are always rushing around on Halloween, but we just took it easy this year. Thanks to Tyler, being our designated pumpkin carver, he got the kids out at made them dig out the "guts". Of course Riley hated sticking his hands in the gooey mess, but they had fun.

Cute kids, getting ready for their big night out.
I didn't spend a dime on costumes this year. My sister in law, Emily let me borrow her costumes for Riley and Jake- Thanks Emily!!! Another friend in my ward gave me Abby's lady bug costume last year, and we have just been waiting to use it. Thanks Kim Schipp!
Luke Skywalker

Cute little Lady Bug Abby. She just HAD to wear her angel wings. "Mom, don't you know? A lady bug can't be a lady bug without her wings." Ok. Whatever.

Buzz Light Year. a.k.a. "Bud lite". We would ask Jakey who he was over and over again just to get him to say the name of a beer. It was so funny!

Sandy City Volunteers are the best! Thanks for the candy!!

And off they go...

The kids had so much fun trick-or-treating. They went around with their friends. Tyler had fun too, since he was with the kids dad's, who are his good friends. I got to stay home and pass out candy. Does anyone feel bad for throwing their kids' candy away? I think ours needs to go soon.

Trunk-or-Treat

I am now the Activities Chairman in my ward, so I was in charge of Trunk-or-Treat. I was so busy w/ Junior Miss, plus I felt horrible on top of everything else, but all in all, it turned out to be a great night! The kids decorated our trunk like a beehive, since I was a bee. (Thanks Callee for the costume). It turned out to be less of a beehive, and more of a jumbled mess. Whatever. We still had fun!
Riley and the Beutler boys playing in our "beehive" (tent).

Abby, Sammie and Rachel- two of Abby's FAVORITE big girls!!!

Luke & Luke. Too funny that Riley and William both planned to be Luke Skywalker, WITHOUT consulting one another about it. Great minds think alike.

Yes, I'm here

I feel like the last month and a half has flown by. I have been so busy. I haven't even blogged about Disneyland, Riley's b-day, My b-day, parties, etc... My life has recently been consumed by Junior Miss. I am the director for the Draper/Sandy Junior Miss program. This is a scholarship program for girls that are seniors in high school. We have 11 girls in the program, and they are so fun! 3 of the girls are from my ward, which makes me want them all to win. Our program is this Thursday, Oct. 29 at Summit Academy in Draper. I would love for you to come and see our program.

Until that is over, I will probably drop off the face of the earth again. I am promising myself that I will catch up on all of my posts. Some day...